The Healing Power of Love
by Deonne
Summary: Who said the power of an imprint can not be tested. Is it the wolf or the man who makes the choice of love? Christmas is a time for family and love, but it can also be the time of tears and regrets. Watch the true power of love between the wolf, imprint and man. This is completely un-beta-ed, all mistakes are mine.


**Originally an entry to Tricky Raven's Christmas competition that I didn't get completed on time.**

**I am not SM, I do not have any say on any legal matters concerning the author or her works, I am simply a woman who loves to use the magical characters in which SM brought to life. **

**This story is un-beta-ed, all mistakes are mine.**

**Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, and all the other wonderful days of celebrations on today.**

He stood there, head down, one hand holding the receiver the other raking through his hair, catching it at the end only to pull it roughly. With his back to me, I watched as he shuttered, the muscles rippling, almost as if he were about to phase.

As his imprint, I was told the strain of what a wolf goes through. Their apparent need to make sure their lands and people were safe. That same pull was only trumped by the pull of their imprint; her needs are even more important than their own. The journals told of when times were hard, the wolf would starve themselves just to make sure that the imprint had enough to nourish their bodies.

But now, I had to wonder what the gods were thinking. It was a curse on him to be landed with me.

"It's not the same Jake, she's not the same." He growled into the phone, sending a chill down my back.

I couldn't move, it was like a train wreck and I just couldn't turn away. I was an idiot, standing there waiting for the next words; knowing that I was the _she_ he was talking about. I jumped as his fist hit the wall, the drywall dented and small could of powder surrounding the impact area.

"Don't you fucking get it, I love her, but she's not the same girl I fell in love with." He muttered, as my heart shattered.

I couldn't hold the gasp that escaped, giving myself away. I staggered, knocking the bowl if fruit I had put down just his morning for him and the guys to try and get them to eat something while I started on breakfast. I couldn't feel the glass as I stepped on it, though I knew that I'd started bleeding from where it cut me.

"Fuck! Bella, please stop, let me explain." I heard the yelling of Jake and god knew who else through the phone, but I just couldn't understand it. There stood the man that I gave everything to and he said he no longer loved me.

"Baby… stop… please. You're going to hurt yourself more." he stepped forward, my instincts finally kicking in making me step back; the sound of glass crushing and the piercing of more skin.

My head was shaking, my hand behind me making sure I didn't fall and hurt myself more than I already had been.

"All you have to do is ask. I can love you enough to let you go." I could hear it in my own voice. My heart may be beating, blood running though my veins, body moving and my lungs filling with air to keep me going… but I was already dying on the inside.

My secret would remain mine.

As my hand finally met with the stair wall I turned and ran up the steps, not stopping until I was in the bathroom where I could lock the door and have some illusion of privacy as my heart gave into the complete destruction of knowing the only love he had for me was because it was what the gods decreed.

I sat on the toilet pulling the shards of glass from my ripped and red feet. I could hear the sounds of wolves in the yard. The howling rang through the small community I was sure. It was as if they could feel the pain I had rippling though me, like it was their own.

Stopping only when I couldn't see anymore, I shut my mind down; thinking only led to more pain. Methodically I went through the process of stripping and stepping into the shower, turning on the water as hot as I could stand. I knew that this, this was the only way I was going to feel the same warmth as I did every night I slept in his arms. I had to force myself from grabbing his body wash, smelling him on me would only hurt more.

I could feel him still here, undoubtedly behind the same door that I had locked. The pull to him would never change. His claim on me could never be broken, well not in a literal sense. No, I could break it for him, break the ties to tether him to me, but it wouldn't change the titanium rods tying me to him. I was sure I could hide the pain when I saw him around with others, and I would never let him see it. I'd be a living embodiment of a Barbie, I could smile, but it would be plastic.

I sobbed as the images my mind brought to the fore front, images I'm sure would come to life in a few short weeks. How could he not, men like him, respected by the tribal elders, who looked like an Adonis on earth. No, he'd be snatched up faster than the winning lotto ticket given freely away on Craig's List.

I sat there under the water until it ran cold, and my body shook from not just the pain of my heart breaking. I couldn't stay in here forever, as much as I would want to. I would have to leave my prison. Stepping out I grabbed the clean towel I put in here this morning, ironically it was one of the few things I still had from when I first moved in with him.

I looked at the woman in the mirror, trying to match her with the same girl I saw this morning. How much had changed in twelve hours. This morning these eyes shone with tears of happiness, now they were clouded with pain and defeat. My cheeks were rosy, flushed with dreams of a future I thought we both wanted, now they were white, a ghost of what they once were. My hair still hung the same, but even there I could see that it would only be a few days before it too joined the rest of me. Mourning a life I thought would be forever.

Stealing my heart and head for what I knew was waiting for me, I opened the door. He knelt there, head down, his hands resting on his thighs with his palms up. The only indication that he was alive was his shoulders as they rose and fell with each breath. I could hear the noise from downstairs, the racket stopping suddenly; they were waiting just as much as he was.

Did they all want the bond broken? Was my family no longer mine to claim?

Closing my eyes I took a deep breath.

"If you can give me a few days, I'll have my things taken away. You won't see u… me again. When it's all gone I'll perform the ritual." My voice breaking as I once more ran. It seems I was starting a habit.

.

.

.

For the next few days I avoided everyone and everything that had to do with the pack. A hard thing to do since this was their home, just as much as it once was mine. I packed my belongings when I knew he was on patrol, I slept in the spare room, not willing to put that final blow to my heart until it had to be done. I spoke to no-one, they were his family and now I was just an intruder. It was pitiful really, when I first came here, when we first started dating I expected to be treated as the outsider having to force myself into their small tightly knit family; except they accepted me with open arms without a second glance. Now, now I was the intruder.

I was just grateful that my father had still kept the house in Forks when he moved in with his second wife Sue. He had never said it, but I knew that it was still fully stocked with furniture if there was ever a time I needed a place to stay, a place where I could think. I doubted that this was what he expected.

As I stared at the tower of boxes in the corner, I realized that tonight I would be performing the one thing I had been holding off. My naivety it seemed was still alive and kicking. My wishes that he'd try to stop me were unanswered. My life fit into ten regular sized boxes. From clothes to books and pictures I wasn't sure I should be keeping; they sat in that corner mocking me.

One by one, I carried each box towards my truck. It was going to take a few trips, but I was hoping, praying that the Band-Aid theory worked with broken hearts. The faster I moved my belongings, the faster I could let my heart give its final –metaphorical- beat. Each time I walked past our-his opened door I felt a sliver of coldness take over my heart. He sat there, his head cradled in his hands. Was he praying for me to hurry up?

With four boxes neatly tucked under the tarp and secured with the bungee ties that my dad had given me when I first moved out, I headed towards the house I truly grew up. While I may have lived with my mother until I was sixteen, I grew up in this old house where the paint needed a touch up and the second step up the porch creaked if you stood in the middle of it.

"Why?" I jumped as I stared at the man I thought of as my brother since before I was out of dippers stood beside the front door.

He stood there; arms crossed his rather impressive chest like he owned the air around him. Jake could be the sun that breaks through the clouds, or he could be the wind that can break a tree. I'm sure the impressive sight before me would break anyone; I've seen it break his brothers… all but one.

"I was there, you know I was. Why torture the both of us." I turned to the tailgate to begin unloading my belongings, and knowing that I was not going to be sleeping tonight.

"Bells, you don't understand. What he said, it was." He choked on his words. I knew the tell tail signs of an Alpha order and what it was going to do to him if he continued to try and break it.

"Jake, he said it himself. He isn't in love with me anymore. I can't force u... myself on him. Sure the timing is shitty, hell it's fucked beyond anything on this earth including the cold ones, but I have to. For him, for me, for us." I forced myself to stop talking, clenching my hands as they started towards my stomach. I prayed that my movements were ignored, though I knew it hadn't.

He stepped aside as I unloaded the truck. I'd have punched him if I knew it would have worked, and it probably would have if he knew everything. But he didn't and I didn't want him to know, he would be forced to tell him, and it would give _him_ another reason to feel trapped with me.

As I turned around to face the door for the final time this first trip, I was met with the sight of just my snow covered front yard. Jake had gone. There was no goodbye, or Jake hug as I was used to. It hurt knowing that I would probably never know that sensation ever again.

When I returned to the house, I was met with not only Jake, but Leah as well. I couldn't help but feel the pang of jealousy as it shot through me. Here stood the woman I knew he chose before he turned to a wolf. The same woman he would have kept and married if the tribal council hadn't stepped in when they did to protect them both. It was another reminder of how he was trapped with me. I wasn't his choice, I was forced on him.

I couldn't do that to yet another, bring that pain.

"You are a selfish bitch." She spat. I could hear the growls from what I could only assume the entire pack rattle from both inside the house, and out in the woods.

"What you are doing, it'll fucking kill him, but you don't fucking care. You,"

SMACK

The sound rang through the silence, both our eyes larger than ever. Hers in shock, mine in pure anger.

"Were you here that night?" I asked as she shook her head.

"Has he phased at all? With any of you?" I yelled, my emotions flying from one extreme to another. I was met with two shaken heads. At least Jake had known what was said.

"You think I'm selfish, heartless, and a bitch. I'll own up to two out of three. I'm selfish in the fact that I know I couldn't stay here knowing it's not what he wants. That w, that I'm not his true choice. I can't be here and survive that so yes I'm selfish enough to go and try to live with it."

"And I know I'm a bitch, you've said it a thousand times. You made it beyond obvious you hated me from the start when I didn't even know you had history. But this is about him, me, and us. Fuck you and your high horse Leah, the world doesn't revolve around you and god help it when you get knocked on your ass because I sure as hell won't be there to help you the fuck up. Now move." She complied along with Jake.

Inside I saw the tail ends of two more wolves in human skin head towards the back door. I walked up the stairs, all ten of them. As I walked past his room I saw him leaning against the head rest of our-his bed, his head tipped up towards the roof. My heart jerked, punishing me every time I looked. As much as I tried I couldn't not look, I needed to get that final drink, memorize his every angle.

I tucked four more into the tray, tying them once more with the cords, and loaded up the final two in the cab.

Turning towards the front of the house, the only place that now felt like home being denied now and forever more. I saw all of them. Jake and Leah stunned speechless, Jared, Paul and the twins standing at the two sides of the house, sentries for the upcoming war. Quil and Embry sitting on the stairs, both looking lost in what I could only imagine the impossible. And finally Seth and Sam in the window of his room, one looking as cold while the other was impossible to read.

"I'm not asking or telling you, I'm requesting this for everyone involved. When I come back please don't be here. It'll be hard enough, and I know it will be almost impossible with you here. So please for all our sanity, leave for a few hours." I turned once more and climbed into cab.

I had to stop twice before I finally made it to the house. I prayed that they listened and would not be there when I got back, but what I forgot to ask was that they leave me be. Seth stood at my door before I could even get out. His eyes a storm of emotions that would make me sick to try and decipher.

"You forgot something. He came down after the sound of the truck couldn't be heard, and asked us to leave. But he saw the tree, and he lost it. All the decorations were scattered around the living room, until he saw something. He smelled it, like it was a life line or something. Did you hide something in the tree?" he asked, as I swayed, my feet not even really making contact with the ground.

I couldn't stop it even if I tried, while Seth took hold of my waist my hands covered my stomach and he head shot down. I had hidden it in the tree for him to find on Christmas day… tomorrow.

"Bella, are you… how didn't anyone..." I shook myself out of his hold, climbing back into the cab and slamming the door. I was pulling my seatbelt and backing out the drive before he had even moved.

I was throwing it into first when I saw the rags now floating to the ground as he phased just inside the tree lines. It was seconds later that I heard the howl. He was calling the others as he followed me back towards the reservation. I could hear the yips as I drove, his brothers and sister were joining him and he was letting me know that all but one was there in the woods with him.

I knew he wouldn't be able to keep what he had I'm sure figured out without needing me to confirm for him. The pack mind didn't let you have secrets. It was the one thing they all hated over everything else.

None more than Sam…

As I reached the drive, I could see each and every one of them stop where the road ended and the path began. I wasn't sure whether to be grateful that he had ordered them to not enter his property. I wasn't scared of Sam, far from it. I was scared of myself. I was scared of nothing more than knowing that I'd probably be walking into the hell I was feeling come to life.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the sound of my truck had stopped or that the pull between us had lessened it's painful grip on both our hearts, but the sight that met me as I killed the engine would be forever burnt into memory.

He sat there, surrounded by glass baubles, tinsel, wood chips and broken strings of popcorn. Those strong shoulders that held more weight than the world could carry had fallen. I had only been met with that look once before, when he came to me nearly six months after the imprint took place; the same night when he finally admitted to himself and accepted the imprint himself.

Cautiously I walked up the small path towards the front door, shuttering with every breath. A thousand questions ran through my head, was I doing the right thing? What would this do to the pack and their roles in the tribe? What would this do to the other imprinted couples? With each new question, more doubt crept into my heart.

But it had to be done.

"Bella…" he sighed as I stopped at the front door.

I could see it in his eyes, he wanted desperately to pull me closer to him, and the physical need to touch had built to a painful crescendo. I was thankful that he was able to hold himself in check. His touch would be my undoing. Even with the ritual I knew it was going to happen, I just wanted to put it off for as long as I could.

I stepped into the house, the small knife that Billy gave all imprints once the wolf had told them about it. It was our way out if we chose not to go through with accepting.

I could hear his pleading, and it killed me that I was doing this.

"Please Bella, I need you, we need you. You are our everything. Don't do this." He begged and I couldn't hold the tears as they fell.

"Samuel Joshua Uley, Alpha of the wolf pack of La Push, I release you of your bonds. As imprint of the Alpha, I release you of your responsibility." I sliced my hand, letting the blood pool in my palm before I reached forward and placed it on his heart.

I staggered, as the power from the ritual rushed through the room, surrounding us. I could feel the bonds as they unknotted around my heart and soul. My last thought before I finally gave into the pull, the darkness that taking over my conscious, was that at last, he could be free and choose for himself.

.

.

.

I woke to and empty house, the floor still littered with the ornaments that had been destroyed in his rage. Sam had passed out in front of the lounge where he must have placed me after I'd lost conscious. The room was bathed in darkness, though I knew it would have only been around eight pm if not earlier.

I drank in the vision before me as I looked down. The strain from the break hadn't done damage to his physical being, though his emotional welfare, I wasn't so sure. He looked peaceful; it was how I wanted to remember him. It was cowardly of me, to creep out while he was still asleep or unconscious. He deserved to have his say. Now that his heart was free, he deserved so much.

Standing I gathered my bearings, looking for a safe trail towards the front door. I'd barely taken a step before I felt his hands clasp around me ankle. I couldn't stop myself from looking down, though I knew it was absolutely the wrong thing to do.

His eyes were almost as dead as mine. They swam in the tears that were barely being held back. I smothered the sob that threatened to come out; the pain radiating from him was suffocating. And I was the one to put it there. I was no worse than the council all those years ago.

"Tell me why? I deserve to know." his hollow voice cracked as he closed his eyes.

"You've had so many things taken, ripped away from your family, that I just couldn't do it anymore. Being a wolf had taken your choices from you, and I knew that sooner or later you would come to resent it. The imprint is meant to be a gift, but it's also a curse. Would you have fared any differently if you got to choose who you were with?"

"I was forced on you. I doubt you would have chosen me if it wasn't for the imprint. Knowing that I wasn't the one you chose, I could live with. That you didn't willingly give you heart because it was something you truly wanted, it hurt but I came to accept that the love we have, had, was more than I could ever want."

"But could I do that to a child? I grew up with a mother who didn't know how to love until it was too late. She strung my father along for three years until she decided that it was over. I know what it feels like to live that life as a child, and to know that it was a forced love on you. I didn't want a child to know that feeling."

"So I chose for us. I love you with everything I am and ever will be. The pull may be gone but I know that it was never the pull for me to begin with. I cared for you when you found me on the beach that time when I was visiting my dad when I was only thirteen and I'd started my period but I was scared to talk to my dad. I judged every boy that I liked or had shown an interest in me against you, and they always lost."

"It just grew from there. But, for me and this child, I need something more, something that the imprint can't give me. So I chose to give you back your freedom, your choice, and your heart. I want it with everything I am, but I want it freely. Not forced by a spiritual bond that is taking away the chance for you to be happy with someone else if that is the case."

"Think about it, what it that you, Sam, want? Not the wolf, not the spiritual mumbo jumbo, but you the man? Do you want me, love me? If you don't, and what you want is someone else, then I can step back and give that to you. I won't stop you from being part of the child's life; honestly I'd kick your ass if you tried not to, you will be the child's father and I won't take that away from you. I can stand aside for you to be happy."

Bending down I traced his face with my hand. He sighed at the contact, though I knew the pull wasn't there, it still felt amazing to have that touch for comfort.

"I love you Sam, I can wait for however long it takes for you to make up your mind. Listen to your heart, and find out what it is you want. My door will always be open regardless. To you or the pack it will be always open." I gently kissed his forehead before I stood once more and made it toward the front door.

I couldn't tell you if an accident had happened as I drove back to Forks, if there were any hitchhikers or if the three headed dog of Hade's came to earth. My mind and heart lay on that floor, and there it would stay until he chose.

I couldn't tell you what my dinner consisted of, as all I could taste was him. He was the air I breathed and the very thing that made me want to live.

I crawled up the stairs, and headed into my old room, completely worn out form today as I climbed into the small bed I hadn't once slept in since I was nineteen. My eyes closed before I could remember to pull the blankets up over me.

It wasn't peaceful, far from it. Those thoughts that had taunted me through this whole process had morphed into nightmares where my worst fears were the least of my problems. I could see the faceless women dripping off his arms, his teeth scraping down their necks as he teased them before stopping just before they imploded.

Stumbling out of bed, my chest felt weird without the constant pull I had for Sam. I could pinpoint him within feet from where he was before last night. My stomach lurched as memories crept to my mind, his dull eyes and face, the crippling effect it had on both our bodies, the pain that radiated off him almost as potent as the heat. I had never hated anyone as much as I do myself.

The silence of the house was daunting, I had been so used to the constant noise from the pack around my- his kitchen, that I was frightened somewhat for being alone right now. The fear was irrational, but it didn't make its hold on any less potent. I needed to make noise, I wasn't sure what kind but I knew I needed it.

Heading towards the lounge room I stopped to find what was left of the tree, the living room decorated within an inch of being overdone. Curled up around a small pile of neatly wrapped presents lay a very large black bundle of fur, his eyes opened and staring straight at me. Sucking in a deep breath, I felt my heart explode into a thousand pieces only to be put back together as quickly as it was destroyed.

I'd only felt that feeling once before…

The night where I became an imprint.

"But… How… I broke… it was broken last night." I gasped as he once more whimpered before he started to crawl towards me.

I staggered towards the lounge, knowing my legs were going underneath me. As my legs hit the chair, I felt his muzzle gently poke at my stomach. He smelled me, us and I knew that he as claiming his child at the very least. His purr had me leaning back on the old comforter that had been put here since I was just a child.

"I thought I did it right? I thought I was doing the right thing, not holding you back; how could this happen?" I mumbled to myself, completely forgetting that with a wolf crouched in front of me that he could hear my breath before I had fully taken it; if he could hear that, he could hear my mumbled questions.

As his purr grew in volume I felt myself being lulled into a place of compete relaxation. It was as close as you could get to sleep without closing your eyes. That blissful place between sleep and conscious thought, I wanted to burry myself in it as much as possible. My mind was racing and I just needed it to stop for a few seconds.

Seconds, minutes, hours; I wasn't sure how long I stayed there, breathing in his scent. The smell of home and everything I desperately wanted. The sun had risen well into the sky before I even realized that Sam was now kneeling in front of me and not the large black animal that had taken my breath from me.

His eyes had never stopped roaming me, head to toe, toes to head, left to right, right to left. The circle continued for so long I was surprised I wasn't dizzy from watching this constant loop.

"C-can I?" his whispered plea tugged at everything in me, but I was terrified of so many things. I didn't want that forced love, I broke the one thing that guaranteed a happily ever after to give him something, could I willingly go into it once more blindly hoping that this time it would be different.

"Please," slowly his hand crept forward until it stopped, hovering over my still flattened stomach.

Gently guiding his hand a little lower to where the books and pamphlets said the little miracle rested, safely hiding from everything that could hurt it. I couldn't help but shiver in delight as our skin touched, that zing of energy and the power that rippled from that touch had me breathless, his heat sinking into my bones, warming me up like nothing on this earth could do.

He couldn't feel anything, I was only a few weeks; yet the look on his face was a mixture of shock and awe. He could smell the changes in me, and I was betting he could hear the beating of its tiny heart fluttering almost as fast as a humming bird. It would be the perfect blend of the two of us.

"You were right," he mumbled as I felt my heart break a little more.

"Being forced to love someone, it isn't right. When I first phased, having to lose Leah was a nightmare come true. Knowing that I could hurt her by the spirits telling me who to love, it hurt me. And even after giving her up, our dreams, it still didn't stop the hurt. I've watched her turn into someone I couldn't love, not in the same way. I did that to her." my lips trembled, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what he was going to say next. Did he spend the night in her arms?

"Then you've got Jared and Kim, a one sided attraction that took a pencil to change everything. They jumped into everything without a second thought. For Kim, I'm sure it was a dream come true. Knowing that the gods decided that they were meant to be together didn't change a thing, forced or not, it had only grown as the years went by. I used to envy him, the way it was so easy between them."

"Then there is us… two very different people, with different lives and I didn't want to have my choice taken away from me. I fought it with everything I could, until I couldn't any more. Then I thought that maybe I could be a friend or brother, the imprint wouldn't force us together. So I got to know you, and you were this little girl from the neighboring town."

I wanted to stop him, beg him to leave it where it was. But I couldn't, I asked him to come to me when he had made his choice, when he as a man, not a wolf had made his choice. He respected my decision, and this is what I had asked of him. There was no way I could stop him from saying what he needed to say. It wouldn't have been right.

"You, you don't have a clue the affect you have on everyone around you. I saw Jake practically worship the ground you walked on, just to get your attention. I watched as Paul, our hot head asshole went from beating the ever loving fuck out of each and every one of the guys; curb his aggression and using it for the hunt. Hell, even Leah has grown up somewhat even if she doesn't want to admit it. How could I not feel something for you? How could I not want you?"

I felt his hot tears as they hit my legs, his arms wrap around me, encasing me and heating me all at the same time. Slowly I watched as the sun rose, until I could guess it was at least after ten in the morning. We sat in silence, though I was sure his body must have been killing him, nobodies body could handle that strain on their muscles without some sort of pain.

"Leah came over last night," he startled me and shattered me all over again. I tried to move away, I didn't want to hear this, it would absolutely kill me.

"She heard what you said, I thought I had ordered them to stay off my property, let me be. But she got around it, since the woods aren't part of the house, she got around the order. I couldn't believe it; she had waited until you had left, before she came into the house. I thought at first she was helping me that as my friend that she wanted to help me. I was so wrong, once she got me back into the room, our room she tried to kiss me."

"I couldn't believe it, after everything that had happened, she would do that. It was something that I never thought she would do. It was so deceitful, I couldn't believe it. I just sat there, wondering what happened to the girl I used to know, what the hell had I done to her to make her like that. When she couldn't get me to give in, she turned to hurting me. Calling me pathetic, that even my imprint didn't want me. How, I should be happy that the imprint was broken, I could be with her."

When she said that the baby wasn't even mine, I, I wanted to hurt her so bad. I wanted to physically harm her to the point that I wished she'd no longer be able to phase. Seth and Jake heard me yelling at her, telling her to leave. They heard her laugh at how I was so pathetic that even my god given happily ever after left me because I wasn't good enough."

"Jake, he stepped up, he's ready if he wants the Alpha position, and he's ready. He pulled her back, and had her submit to him, like she should have all of us who are higher up on the food chain. Right now she's been deemed unfit to be a wolf. Old Quil has done some sort of ritual; she can't phase and is now being punished by the council for her actions. She's been stripped of her role in any future council as the eldest Clearwater heir, and it's been given to Seth."

"But through all she had said and done, all I could think about was you, how when you get angry your nose scrunches up and your ears go a little red. That every time you see one of the pack upset with what's going on in their personal lives, you set out to help smooth things over; even going to their parents place and lying to their mother or father telling them that they're studying and you won't let them leave so late at night so you force them to stay until the morning, just to cover them doing the night patrols."

He looked up at me, his eyes so bright but pained as they met mine, the strong warrior warring with himself. The need to hold back but wanting to give everything, it was all there. I wanted so desperately to touch, to kiss, and claim him. There was no doubt in my mind that I would forever want this man, but I wasn't sure where this was leading, and I couldn't get hurt again. I just wouldn't survive it.

"You asked me to think what the man in me wants. I don't want an imprint; I don't want to be forced to love someone even though it would hurt not to. When I wake up in the morning, I want to see the face of someone I chose lying beside me. I want to choose who it is that I love, I want to choose who it is that makes me complete. I want my choices being made by me, not the wolf, not the council or the gods. Me, Sam, I want that." I watched as tears ran down his face, the pain to admit this and knowing that he was being forced to be with me again crashed onto my shoulders.

"I can, I can try again, see if it sticks this time. I won't force you to be with me. I told you last night, and if it takes me having to get someone to ferry this child between us so we don't have to see each other again, I can do that. I will do that, for you." I knew he probably hear how much it would hurt to know that I would never see the man I loved again, but I could and would do it for him.

"Bella, don't you get it, I have that, you asked me to think of what I wanted. I want to wake up every morning with you beside me in our bed. I want this child to grow up with their mother and father loving each other without any set rules. I want you, your clumsiness, you genuine heart, your never ending need to make sure everyone I and everything is done. And I can have it all, with you. I want you, I love you. And this baby, I already love it, because it's half you." I watched as he paced back and forth around my living room, the caged look in his eyes; only coming to an end as he stalked forwards and knelt at my feet in all his naked glory.

"Tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it. Just tell me what I need to do to prove it to you." The pain in his voice shattered me.

"Show me," I whispered.

No sooner had those words left my mouth did I feel his strong arms encase me and draw me into his chest. The long legs making short work of my living room and hall, the stairs only a formality for his powerful gait. I didn't have a thought of what to do, though I did have a good understanding of what he was going to do.

"I love you," the soft voice that I knew none had ever heard before me seeped into my very being, warming me up faster than anything ever could.

"I will always want you. I need you, not the wolf, but me, the man. And if it takes the rest of my life to show you this, then I will every day." His mouth fused with mine, the strength and power he held had nothing to do with the passion I bathed in as he claimed mine.

As gently as he could, he placed me on the bed, the feather like touch running though me both excited me and set me on edge. The soft touch of his fingers as they skimmed down my sides as though I was nothing more than a mirage he didn't want to break. Those fingers traced every inch of me, covered or not. He was memorizing me just as I had as I left. Drinking in everything his eye catches.

"You are the one I dream of, the one that I could never have thought possible if it wasn't for the fact that you're here now, with me and not some image my head thought of." I closed my eyes as his words swept over me, blanketing me in the softest of embraces.

I felt as he tugged at my top, as he slowly lifted it up until he couldn't get any higher. I felt his happiness as I rose slightly off the bed to give him what he wanted, what he needed. The muffled thump of material hitting the wooden floor the only sound in the room other than our breathing, but the air was loud with an un-named current that zinged through the two of us.

"You are perfect, I love every bump, every soft inch, every curve, scar, and freckle on you. You're not some fake plastic toy, you're real. I fucking love every flaw you think you have, it makes up the complete you. You are the one that I would do anything for. All you have to do is ask." I gasped as those final words left his lips; those same words that I spoke that first night.

I melted into his very being, our breath matching with every in and out our chests rose. My stomach quivered with something more than need as his skillful hand traveled down my flesh before gently pulling away my panties.

"For you, I will always want to be more, more than just someone you love. I know I can't give you the world; I don't have money banked from years of nothing but savings. But I'll give you everything that I can, just name it." I could hear his voice, cracking as he whispered those words in my ear.

"You, freely, wholly, not influenced by spirits or old men who think they know best because they're married. Give me Sam Uley, and I'll never ask for anything more than that." I cried as he entered me.

He made love to me in that small bed, the same bed he took my virginity on my eighteenth birthday. With every push and pull, I felt the ever growing power of his love, his devotion and his soul as we joined together the two hearts once more. When he played my body so lovingly, I came, tears ran down my face as I forced my eyes opened. With our eyes locked I felt his release within me, and with it, himself.

Right in that moment, I knew that the man had chosen me, not the wolf. Yes the wolf had imprinted on me once more, but his heart was given to me freely. No mystical force could sway that feeling of two people becoming one.


End file.
